


The Original Conjuring Cat

by Bees_in_a_davidbowie_shirt



Category: Cats (1998), Cats (2019), Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber
Genre: Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Cats, Cats 1998 - Freeform, Cats 2019, Cats 2019 but also cats 1998, F/F, F/M, Lots of diff ships bcuz of the diff verses, M/M, Mr mistoffelees is gay, The rum tum tugger is bi, Universe swap?, if thats a thing, world swap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:28:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23360038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bees_in_a_davidbowie_shirt/pseuds/Bees_in_a_davidbowie_shirt
Summary: The Jellicle Ball is nearing for this year, and everyone hopes that Macavity will not strike like he did before. However, a week before the Jellicle Moon, he does attack, somehow accidently sending the local magic cat into another universe that is quite similar to his own, but just isn't quite normal. In turn, his place has been taken by a cat that is like him, but is also not.Aka the one where Stage!Misto and Movie!Misto are magically switched by Macavity.
Relationships: Bombalurina/Rum Tum Tugger, Demeter/Cassandra, Demeter/Munkustrap (Cats), Mr. Mistoffelees/Rum Tum Tugger, Mr. Mistoffelees/Victoria, Plato/Victoria (Cats)
Comments: 67
Kudos: 167





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi this is the most ive written in a long time so lets just go with it lol  
> edit:  
> sorry just went back thru this the spacing is janky bcuz im 17 and type everything up on my school issued chromebook and the copy and past it onto here where it then just clumps itself together lol  
> however i will try to get onto the computer and fix it better once i can

The Jellicle Balls date is looming, as every cat can feel the presence of the Jellicle Moon getting stronger.

  
All the adults help to set up the ceremony, clearing a general space in the Junkyard. This space will be used for the dances and introductions that most cats do.

  
Currently, the kittens are gathered around The Rum Tum Tugger, who had volunteered to kitten-sit while everyone else moved junk. The reality was, he did not wish to dirty his mane, which he had been spending the entire day cleaning.

  
“Now, kittens,” He purred, “Which of you are having dances this year?”

  
When a kitten becomes a young adult, either a young queen or a young tom, then they get a special part in the Jellicle Ball. Generally, they will dance a number, like Victoria was to do this year, or would get a part to sing with the adults.

  
“I am!” Called the aforementioned Victoria, bouncing up and down.

  
“Oh, we all know you are, sweetheart!” The Rum Tum Tugger smiled. He jokingly looked around. “Well, Jemima! How old will you be now, my dear young queen?”

  
Jemima bounced up and down. “Oh, not old enough to be part of a dance!” She cried. The other kittens laughed at her words, everyone knew how much she loved the Jellicle Ball. Last year had been her first time there, and she had loved it!

  
The tom looked around again. “Hmm, now which of you is old enough this time?” He purred, as the kittens pounced around each other to try and show how old they were.

  
“I'm in the ball this year!” Exclaimed Tumblebrutus as he jumped on Pouncival.

  
“I'm not old enough to form my own song, but Jennyanydots says I can help her again!” Offered Pouncival.

  
“Oh, you're not old enough yet, but you sure have grown!” Laughed Tugger. “I remember when you were this small-” He held his paws very close together, “And could barely even meow.”

  
“I want a part!” Cried Etcetera.

  
“Well, my darling, we don't want you to pass out when I sing again, we all know how that went.” Tugger meowed with a smile.

  
“Calm down,” Murmured Electra.

  
“Ah, Electra! You have to have a part this time around, correct?”

  
Electra smiled, proud to have been recognized. She was, in fact, coming of age this year, and would soon become a young queen. She was obviously mature, and was also old enough to be part of the ceremony.

  
The kittens ran off on their own, distracted by the thought of getting to perform, some for the first time.

  
“Having fun?”

  
The Rum Tum Tugger jumped, before looking behind him.

  
Mr. Mistoffelees sat, looking quite comfortable behind him, a slight smile on his face. His tail curled around his body, back legs tucked under himself.

  
“Darling!” Exclaimed Tugger, turning the rest of the way around. “Oh my, and how long have you been here?”

  
“Not long,” He replied. “What are you even doing? Shouldn't you be helping out?”

  
“You’re one to talk, Mr. Mistoffelees. Here you are, lounging around, while i'm being a responsible tom and watching the kittens for the lovely queens,” He purred.  
Mistoffelees leaned in closer. “You see, they want me to use my magic, but I have to save up for that, so I was told to take a short break.”

  
“Is that so?” Replied Tugger. “Would a break include going off with me to where the kits cant find us and, I don't know, having a bit of fun?”

  
The magician smiled. “Is that really something such a responsible sitter should do? I mean, look at those kittens, they could get in so much trouble without you here to sit around and tell them stories-”

  
“Boys!”

  
The toms whipped around to see a few of the junkyard workers looking at them. Bombalurina jumped up next to them.

  
“Tugger, the kittens will be fine without you for a minute. Mistofelees, stop encouraging him. I am certain that both of you have had just enough time up here to yourselves. Now, come and help us over here.”

  
Grumbling, The Rum Tum Tugger gracefully lept from the perch he had been sitting at to watch the kittens. Majority of the cats gathered around a particularly large piece of junk, ready to help move it away.

  
“Mistofelees, whenever you're ready!” Called Munkustrap.

  
The cats got into position, while Mistofelees took a deep breath and held his hands out.

  
“Presto!” He shouted, and suddenly the piece of junk was much easier to move, and the group began to push and shove it out of the way while the spell was still in place.

  
“This way! This way!” Called Munkustrap, waving his tail in the direction the piece was to go so that it could be laid down.

  
Finally, Mistofelees released his spell, and the junk settled down into its place, now with the addition of its weight.

  
Everyone looked around, proud of their work; the junkyard had a nice clear space so that the cats could compete for their place in the Heaviside Layer, and there was now no more work to do.

  
“Good job, everyone, excellent work.” Called Munkustrap, always the leader. “You are now all welcome to return to your homes or dens, whichever you prefer. But remember, I want you back here tomorrow, around dusk. We will need a bit of sunlight, as the Jellicle Moon is not out yet.”

  
Majority of the cats scattered, either to return to their homes before humans could arise, or to go off and do other tasks. The Rum Tum Tugger, however, migrated closer to Munkustrap, greeting him with a good, hearty slap on the back

.  
“Ah, my dear brother,” Purred Tugger, “Such a leader! Now, what is the plan for this time around?”

  
The older, more mature cat turned and glared at him. “The plan is for you to not crash in with another one of your ridiculous songs. The same goes for the troubled twins, wherever they are.”  
Tugger sighed, pulling away from his older brother dramatically.

  
“This is why we can't have nice things, Tugger!” Called Mistofelees from across the yard. “Now hurry up, if you're going to walk me back, that is.”

  
The larger cat smiled, and with a flick of his tail and a meow back at Munkustrap, went off with the other tom.

  
“Where are we off to today, my love?” He hummed.

  
Instead of continuing on, Mr. Mistofelees froze, looking at the sky and sniffing around, his tail lashing back and forth.

“Something is not right. Can you not tell?”

  
The Rum Tum Tugger looked around, trying but failing to find whatever it was that made the smaller cat uncomfortable.

“Perhaps there is a storm coming. It must be nothing.”

  
As if on cue, rain poured down from the sky, slapping onto the ground. It completely ruined The Rum Tum Tugger's coat, and all of his hard grooming work, but he was a larger cat than Mistofelees, whose short hair was already completely soaked through.

  
“Darling, let's get to shelter. Hurry!”

  
But Mr. Mistofelees did not move. In fact, he had almost completely frozen, except for his mouth, which was moving as he repeated the words over and over again, “Somethings not right. Somethings not right. Somethings not right.”

  
Just as he was about to say it again, lightning flashed and thunder roared, launching the street they were on into absolute darkness. Everything was silent, before the lights returned just as they had been, and the rain continued just as it had been, and that distant rumbling of a familiar car engine continued, but that was farther off in the distance, so it didn't matter as much.

  
So, just as he had been, The Rum Tum Tugger turned on his paws to yell at the tom for not moving fast enough, only, his Mr. Mistofelees has vanished, leaving a tell-tail pile of glitter, and another cat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay when do u guys want me to update??? because i am writing ahead so i have several chapters finished but i dont wanna post too fast and then have to make yall wait a long time.   
> anyways here ya go

Mr. Quaxo Mistoffelees was, and is, a magical cat, there is no doubt about that. He can control light, he can shoot sparks from his paws, he can make the leader of the Jellicle Cats reappear after he's been cat-napped by the most evil cat of all, and he can teleport short distances.

However, as far as he knows, he cannot make The Rum Tum Tugger vanish, or anyone else vanish, without the help of some cloth, plus the fact that his magic was tired out from helping move things.

So, where was he? Why was he here? How did he get to this place, which looked exactly like where he was before, but it most certainly wasn't. Mistoffelees is a magic cat, he can feel when something is not right. Then again, most cats can, unless your stupid like The Rum Tum Tugger, or a kitten with no experience. Same thing, really.

So Mistoffelees quickly turned back and scampered back in the direction of the junkyard, which, if everything else was the same, should be there. 

When he arrived, the sun had almost completely risen, and the junkyard was flushed with light, but it definitely looked different. Things were not in the same place as they had been earlier, when he had been helping to arrange. Some of the things he hadn't seen before, and others were simply in other places, and some didn't exist at all. For example, the ledge that he generally sat on with Tugger during the night? Not there. Jennyanydots trunk, where she liked to sleep with the newborn kits? It had been turned and strewn, which he knew would make her mad. That place was one of the safest spots in the junkyard, and was needed to keep the young kittens safe.

He slunk over towards it, resting his paw on the side. With the flick of his tail, it started to slowly move upright, and everytime his tail moved, it turned further. Finally, it sat as it was supposed to. 

Mistoffelees looked around. What had happened to this place in the short while that he had left with Tugger? Had Macavity attacked? Was that what the thunder and lightning really had been?

It is well known that Macavity has magical powers, just as Mistoffelees does, but could he really do this much damage? Especially in such a short time!

Mr Mistoffelees looked around, tired from using his magic again after only a short amount of time. He shook his paw, and barely any glitter spread around. His magic was low, and it would take a few days to recharge. He probably wouldn't be ready to use it again until the Jellicle Ball, if that ever happened, seeing the state of the junkyard. 

He decided the best thing to do would be to find either Munkustrap or Old Deuteronomy. The cat decided to go looking for Munkustrap first, seeing as how he was second in command. Their leader was probably busy anyways, as he was a very important cat. 

But, as he got closer to where Munkustrap usually sleeps with Demeter when it's close to the Jellicle Ball, he noticed even more issues. The place looked like it was unused, and did not have either of their scents. Usually, Mistoffelees could pick up Munkustrap’s scent easily, as he smelled similar to the Rum Tum Tugger seeing as how they were related, but he couldn't smell him at all.

In fact, he didn't know if he recognized any scent.

“Mistoffelees!” Someone meowed, and he whipped around, ready to leap or cast a spell, whichever was easier at the moment. 

In the distance, he saw a pure white figure on top of a tire. Although the cat was far off, he knew that there was only one cat in the junkyard who was completely white. His sister, Victoria, a gentle kitten who was soon to be a young queen.

On instinct, he teleported the short distance, silently appearing a little behind her. The kitten continued to look off in the distance before realizing he was not there, which confused him. Victoria is his sister, she grew up with him. She knows that he always teleports to others when they greet him, and that he always ends up a little behind them. It had started like that because he didn't have an amazing aim, but now he did it purely for the shock factor, and she always loved it. How had his own sister forgotten this? 

She then turned directly into him.

It was at this moment that Mr. Mistoffelees realized, this cat did not look quite like his sister.

Victoria is a small queen kitten, with fluffy white hair on her head, arms, and legs. She generally wears a pink collar, which he knows they had found together. However, this cat is collarless, and obviously older than his sister. She is also not as graceful as his sister, as this cat stumbles into his side and almost falls off the tire before Mistoffelees grabs her.

“Mistoffelees! What are you doing?” She squealed. “I was looking all over for you earlier, we have to practice for the Jellicle Ball!”

He followed behind as she led the way over to another part of the junkyard, where more cats were gathered. His eyes scanned the crowd- Everyone looked vaguely familiar, but nothing like the cats that he knew. In fact, everyone looked quite fuzzy. Or maybe that was just him.

Then, he passed out.

\--

When Mr. Mistoffelees awoke, it was to a couple of cats surrounding him. On one side was the obviously worried Victoria, while a well-groomed gray cat was on his other side. It took him a minute to realize this was Munkustrap. 

Now that he was returning to his senses, it was easier to smell the tom, although it wast the smell he was familiar with. Besides that, the area around them seemed to be a different place then where the Jellicles usually hung around.

“Good,” Munkustrap meowed in a voice that was more recognizable than his scent. “Glad to see you finally getting here. Now, it's daylight out and most of us want to get some sleep. You two better run through the performance quickly before we all leave.”

“Oh, goody!” Cheered Victoria. 

Throughout all this, Mistoffelees had stayed quiet, but no one seemed to notice.

“Mistoffelees, where's your coat and hat?” Someone called. Cassandra, who usually comes out only when needed, was suddenly next to him. She frowned. “You look... different. I just can't place it.”

Someone who looked vaguely like Demeter came up next to her. “His face is very white!” She pointed out.

Mistoffelees frowned. Everyone knew that his face was white. He's a tuxedo cat, every part of him is black except for his lower legs, face, and chest. He also wears a bowtie around his neck, just as he always has. 

As if reading his mind, a younger voice called, “His bowtie is smaller!” 

Some of the cats around him frowned as they picked out some things that were apparently different about him. Tired of all this, he simply stood up.

“I don't know what you mean by jacket, hat, performance, or smaller bowtie. We all know that I only wear a small jacket during the ball. The only person around here who wears a jacket and hat are Jennyanydots, with the ridiculously large human-socks.”

Everyone was silent.

“But... What about our performance?” Victoria asked quietly.

“Victoria, what do you mean?” He replied with a sigh. “Last year, at the Jellicle Ball, you had a first dance. Now, you have your true mating dance with Plato.”

Everyone gasped, as if they knew something he didn't, but truely, he was tired of all this nonsense.

“Quiet!” He shouted, throwing his voice so it echoed around the other cats. “I don't understand what is happening. The Jellicle Ball is not till next week, we didn't start practice ‘till tonight, none of you look or smell as you are supposed to, and my magic is going to need a very long break after this.” He finished, taking a deep breath.

Everyone was silent around him, until Munkustrap stood and turned to where a majority of the cats were gathered.

“Jellicle Cats, I have figured it out.” He announced.

The magic cat grumbled, “Oh, thank the Everlasting Cat...” 

“This is not Mr. Mistoffelees.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ft idiot munkustrap, concerned victoria, and many other things  
> the one thing that makes me not really like the movie, other then shy misto, is the vicky/misto romance. you rarely see them interact; misto and cassandra have more interactions and dances then those two, and reading fics has made me think of them as siblings. i think them as siblings would be really funny bcuz hes a black cat and shes pure white. reminds me of me n my sister. our mother is filipino and out father is white but i turned out looked full filipino and she looks full white, no similarities at all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii okay ik think ill just keep doin every other day bcuz i can and im impatient lmaoooo  
> i appologize for ending every single chapter the same way i have no idea how to write  
> also im terrible at dialogue

Sitting where Mr. Mistoffelees had formerly been sitting, a small, scared looking black and gray cat. He wore a tophat and a jacket, with a large bow tie around his neck. He also stared directly into The Rum Tum Tuggers eyes without moving. This might be because The Rum Tum Tugger had started to slowly growl and bear his teeth- and no, not the sexy growl that was reserved for singing and in the den, but a threatening growl. 

Tugger slowly moved closer to where this stranger sat, surrounded by Mistoffelees glitter. The strange cat continued to cower in fear.

Just as he was about to grab him by the nape of the neck to drag him back to the junkyard, where Old Dueteronomy could obviously solve the problem and bring back Mistoffelees, the cat shouted, “Wait!”

He stopped.

“You- Your Rum Tum Tugger, right?” He questioned. He had a strange accent, and you could hear the quavering in his voice.

The Rum Tum Tugger caught him in a strong grip at that moment, holding him down against the ground.

“How the hell do you know my name?” He growled. “And what did you do with Mr. Mistoffelees?”

The smaller cat gasped for breath under his hold. “P-please- Sir- Let me breathe-”

He loosened up on the grip, but only slightly, for the Great Rum Tum Tugger could tell that this cat was not to trust. 

“I AM Mr. Mistoffelees. O-or, well, yeah. I-well, I just don't like the Mister part that much.” 

The Rum Tum Tugger frowned. “That's it, you're coming back with me to the junkyard. Old Dueteronomy will know exactly what to do with you.”

“Deuteronomy? Oh, good! She knows who I am!” The cat exclaimed.

“Well, you obviously don't know him.” He growled in reply, before starting to drag him back along the sidewalk by his neck. The sun was starting to rise, which meant they had to hurry before everyone returned back to their human homes for the day.

“Him? But Old Deuteronomy is a nice old queen! She's lived nearly 99 lives, you know.”

With a sigh, The Rum Tum Tugger dropped the other cat to the ground again. “You must be deaf, Old Deuteronomy is a tom, and he has had 99 wives, all of which he has had to bury. Now come along now, dar-” He paused. This was a strange cat, not his Mr. Mistoffelees, although he claimed to be him. If this really was Mistoffelees, that would mean the other tom would know that he always called him darling, dear, and other affectionate names, while calling The Rum Tum Tugger names like bore, stupid, idiot, and kitten in return. It was quite cute, really, if you asked him.

So, here it was, the true test. How would this cat, who claims to be Mr. Mistoffelees, react to being called the pet names that the two always flirt around with?

“What was that?” The imposter questioned.

He turned towards the smaller tom. “We have to go find Old Deuteronomy, darling.”

“E-excuse me?” He stuttered.

The Rum Tum Tugger smirked. “I knew there was something off about you.”

“What?!?”

Tugger pulled him up to stare into his eyes. “Your. Not. Mistoffelees.”

\--

When Tugger walked in dragging a tuxedo cat behind him, Munkustrap knew that something was wrong. The only Jellicle- or cat in the area, really- that had that pattern was Mr. Mistoffelees, and The Rum Tum Tugger would never hurt a hair on that tom's body.

They had just been finishing up the last few tasks and were about to all either go to sleep or head home when the younger tom had marched in, his mane fluffed up to its fullest. His tail was held high, but not out of pride- it was pointed straight, as he was obviously at his highest sense.

“Tugger, what's going on?” Asked one of the queens. Most of them are here during the night, sleeping either with Jennyanydots and the kittens, or in the dens that they have made themselves. This is generally only if they have kits, are going to have kits, or are too old to make it home during the time around the ball. For example, Bombalurina always goes back to her home during the day, while Demeter, who is younger than her, stays in a den with the second in command.

The queens that were currently in the junkyard went over to see what was happening. The kittens were currently off somewhere, still playing. Demeter, Exotica, Jellylorum, and Jennyanydots were slowly closing in on the two cats.

Jellylorum let out a little gasp as she saw the black cat sitting on the ground. “Why, that's just Me. Mistoffelees!” She cried.

“No, no, no.” Meowed Exotica. “That looks nothing like Mistoffelees. Have you ever seen that magician wearing such a silly looking hat?”

“Mr. Mistoffelees jacket doesn't look anything like that,” Jennyanydots said in agreement. “His sparkles and turns many different colors, especially when he gets excited.” She squinted at the imposter. “I've seen it turn red when he's scared. It's not turning red, which means that that is not Mr. Mistoffelees jacket!”

Munkustrap, who had just been fetched by Demeter, peaked around the crowd of queens. “That means that this is not Mistoffelees.”

“But he claims that he is, and I knew he wasn't, so I brought him here because I will not bring him back to the home.” Tugger said snootily. 

“A completely understandable decision,” started Munkustrap, “But what if he's working for Macavity?”

“I- What? I would- Would never work for Macavity!” cried the figure from the ground. “We had to fight him off last year, when he kidnaped cats! You- You must remember that, Munkustrap! You helped fight him and his henchmen off!”

Munkustrap frowned. “He tried to kidnap Demeter many times, but he only succeeded in taking Old Deuteronomy. We got him back when you performed your magic.”

“Well, yes, but- well- that took ma-many tries, and, well, it was hard to do...” He trailed off.

The Rum Tum Tugger frowned. “It didn't take many tries. It took you one try, and you even told me after the ball how you did it. I remember you saying that it was easy but risky.” He looked at the other cats, as if to prove his point. “You see, this isn't Mistoffelees! This is some imposter, or Macavity or one of his henchmen in disguise!”

“Well, brother, what happened?” The other tom asked calmly.

“We were walking back when it started storming, like it is now. Mistoffelees stopped, and said something was wrong, that something wasn't right, when suddenly, there was lightning and then thunder and all of the lights on the street went out! When they came back on, he was gone!” 

Tugger took a deep breath, calming down from telling his tale. “And, in his place, was whoever this is.”

“My name is Mistoffelees!” The black cat cried, angry that no one was listening to him. 

The second in command took a deep breath as well. “Tugger, thank you for telling us immediately. We will talk with the rest of the tribe once night has fallen and everyone can get out of the house. For now, we will rest.” He turned to the strange cat that claimed he was Mistoffelees. “You will have to be put somewhere you will not escape. I know there's a cage somewhere, because the actual Mr. Mistoffelees set it up so that it would catch Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer if they tried to crash another song this year. We will put you in there for the night.” He turned again, this time in the direction of his brother. “I would suggest you stay here tonight as well. You're stressed, no need to lead an enemy back to your resting place.”

Once everyone had nodded in agreement, they all parted ways. Munkustrap, Demeter, and The Rum Tum Tugger took the tuxedo cat to what seemed to be a dog kennel, but would certainly hold a cat for the day. 

As they settled down for the night, Munkustrap turned toward his brother once again.

“Tugger. Mr. Mistoffelees are going to be just fine. He can take care of himself.”

The tom sighed. “I know, but I still worry about him. You know what he means to me, right Munku?” 

“I know Tugger. I know.”

\---..---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah i think that tugger would be very protective also it seems a bit weird but after watching the movie and 1998 recording many times i just get this headcanon that the 1998 stage recording clan is more organized? while the movie jellicles are like all over the place  
> so yeah thats where im going with this uwu  
> AND ofc thank u for the love <3<3<3


	4. chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiiiiiiii  
> okay give me about a week for the next update im gonna try and write 4 more chapters  
> i still have one more chapter prewritten after this so if i dont get that far youll get that one lol

Victoria had been following Mr. Mistoffelees around ever since Munkustrap had made that amazing revelation of him apparently not being Mistoffelees. She claimed it was because she was worried about him, which might be partially true, but he had also seen her get pulled aside. Despite still being dizzy and low on magic, the tom had made the unwise decision of magically hearing their meows as they quietly conversed. 

Munkustrap had made the obvious decision of asking Victoria to try and get information from him. They had all seen his magic at work, and knew he was powerful, and figured there was no way to keep him trapped here. He could obviously just magic himself away at whatever point he wanted to. Mistoffelees hadn't bothered to mention that he was terribly low on magic at the moment, and wouldn't be able to teleport until the Jellicle Ball, and hopefully by then he could figure out what was happening.

His small uses of magic were, at this point, natural. If he was curious about something, he would use his magic to listen in. If he needed someone's attention, or needed to be loud, like when he shouted his ‘prestos’, then he would use a bit of magic to throw his voice out there. It was just a habit at this point, and now he had to stop that habit, so that he could instead use his magic to get back to his own junkyard.

So here he was, slowly slinking around this junkyard that was like his own but also wasn't, followed by the queen who was like his sister but also wasn't. 

“Eep!”

Mistoffelees quickly spun on his paws, to see that Victoria had simply bumped into something. He sighed, tired of all of this- his own sister following him around like he might betray the Jellicles at any moment, and not knowing what is even happening.

“Listen. I have no clue what is going on here. This is so different from where I just was. What is happening?”

Victoria let out a breath. “Misto, it's just so weird. You weren't acting like yourself at first, and now Munkustrap thinks that you're not really you, and I can see where he's coming from because you're not acting like yourself at all!” Her eyes were starting to water, her voice shaking.

The magic cat grabbed her paw. “Victoria. I am acting just as I always act. I know you're upset, but Macavity must have done something to you all.” He waved his paw around him, gesturing to the junkyard. “He obviously did something to the junkyard as well. Nothing is as it should be around here.”

Victoria yanked her paw from his. “I don't understand! This isn't like you!” She sniffled. “You're usually so quiet, and gentle, and you're scaring me Misto!”

“What do you mean, I’m scaring you?” Mistoffelees replied, frowning. “Victoria, I’m your brother. I don't want to hurt you at all, I simply want you to be safe. You're just a kitten, and I know you're going to be a queen soon, but you will always be my younger sister.”

The young cat sighed. “I’m not a kitten. Besides that, you're acting crazy! I'm not your sister, I’m your mate!”

The toms frown deepened. “Victoria. What's my name?”

She tossed her paws in the air, completely finished with all of this. “You're Mr. Mistoffelees, the Original Conjuring Cat! There can be no doubt about that!”

Wrapping his paws around her should, he meowed, “And what is oh-so different about me from usual?”

“Well, you're usually so quiet and shy! Your manner is still vague and aloof, but there's so many things about you that are different.” Victoria covered her face with her paws, visibly upset.

It was at that moment that he made the very unwise decision to use up the rest of his magic for the day. “Victoria, my name is Mr. Quaxo Mistoffelees. I am the Original Conjuring Cat, and you would think that there is nobody shyer, but I can be heard from the roof,” The scenery around them changed, and they were suddenly outside. “While I am curled up by the fire.” Another flick of his paw made a small flame between the two. “You are my sister, younger by two years, not my mate. We have been living in the Jellicle Junkyard since before you opened your eyes.” 

With a sudden swish, Victoria put out the light, and the moment was over. “Mistoffelees, I was thrown into the junkyard last year, do you not remember?” He shook his head. “You had the biggest crush on me, and we got together after the Jellicle Ball! After we defeated Macavity! And you saved Old Deuteronomy!”

Once again, Mr. Mistoffelees shook his head.

“We were supposed to have a mating ceremony, yet now you're claiming that they were related? And that you're so much older than me? What is this!”

For the last time that day, Mistoffelees grabbed Victoria's paws with his own, using his final spark of magic to momentarily silence her. “Victoria, my dear sister, you have known me forever, and know everything about me. I have to say this quickly, because I have used so much of my magic that I am going to pass out at any minute, but you should know. I have never liked queens.”

And, just as promised, he fell to the ground.

\----

When he woke up late in the night, it was to the sound of the Jellicle Ball rehearsal going on around him. There was a figure close to where he had been set down, most likely by the other cats of the junkyard. 

“Victoria!” The tom called out, assuming it was her.

When the cat turned around, he found not his sister, but another queen.

She slowly padded over to him. “Do you know who I am?” She softly purred, but not in a seductive way like someone such as Bombalurina would, but in a gentle, calming way. 

Mistoffelees shook his head.

“Im Demeter. Do I not exist, wherever you are from?”

“Ah, you exist. You just have a different scent than I'm used to.” The tom squinted. “And a different coloring, you're usually quite a bit brighter.”

The gentle queen frowned. “What is so unique about my scent?”

The magician pushed himself up the rest of the way, so that the two were level with each other. “I recognize people by their scents a lot. Especially when I am close to them. For example, my sister usually smells like milk and the forest. Mungojerrie and Rumblrteazer always smell of mess, like a variety of foods all at once, from stealing all over. And you-” He leaned closer- “You usually smell like Munkustrap, which I suppose would happen when you mate with them and sleep in the same den every night.”

Demeters eyes widened with surprise. “Munkustrap? Why, that is certainly different!”

The other cat frowned at her. “How so?”

“You see, Victoria asked me to sit over here with you for a reason,” She meowed with a smile. “I suppose that is another difference between your junkyard and our junkyard. Here, you and Victoria are together. But where you are from, she is your sister, and you only like toms, as she told me.”

“Ah, I should have figured she would mention it,” Mistoffelees answered with a sigh. “No matter what junkyard I am in, Victoria just can't help blabbering.”

“I'm terribly sorry if I wasn't supposed to know that! She just came to me, she was so scared, I just wanted someone to talk to I believe.” She shook her head.

“Ah, no, it's not a secret, I’m just amazed she talked so soon.”

The small queen smiled, and then continued talking. “Well, I believe she came to me for that reason. I'm usually more hostile towards strange cats, but I was reassured that you're nothing like a stranger. In your junkyard, I am mated to Munkustrap, but here, I am mated with Cassandra.” She turned to him, a twinkle in her eyes. “I quite enjoy the company of both queens and toms. Hopefully that is not strange to you?”

“Ah, of course not.” Mistoffelees replied. “My mate is the same way. It used to get on my nerves, him flirting with both, but he explained it to me when we got together. Of course, we have not officially mated yet, but Munkustrap promised he would find a way to make it happen at this year's Jellicle Ball.” He looked out around him, and was able to take in bits of the practice going on around. “That is, if I can get back to mine.”

Demeter smiled softly. “May I ask who your tom back home is?”

Right then, a loud, higher, and obviously unplanned meow came from the rehearsal area. Demeter sighed.

“Ah, that troublesome Rum Tum Tugger. He just can't decide if he's part of the ball or not, it seems!”

Mistoffelees smiled. “The Rum Tum Tugger.”

“What about him?”

“The Rum Tum Tugger. He’s my mate, back home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here me out on this:  
> i dont like how demeter was portrayed in the 2019 movie like shes just not herself shes not that agressive and ready to attack  
> i also personally didnt see any mention of how like she was hurt in some way by macavity which i know is in the 1998 one  
> so i kinda changed her a bit  
> you see however on the wiki it says that her mate might be cassandra and im all for lesbian cats so were going with that


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If i had an entrance song it would be 'the bitch is back' by elton john except ive never gotten drunk before i just really like to say the word bitch

“‘Ey! Do ya’ think ‘e can do all, ah, fancy magic sparkles, like ‘stoffelees does?”

“Nah, ‘teazer, this guy ‘asnt even got outta the ‘age yet!”

The first voice let out a loud laugh, and the other shushed her. “Oh, ‘jerrie, we ‘oulda gotten outta ‘ere! It woulda taken us no-time at all!”

There were two cats talking outside of Mistoffelees cage. Both had strange voices. They were kind of squeaky, and drew out certain letters while cutting others out of the words completely. The cat hasn't moved an inch since he had heard them, not wanting to give himself away.

However, the two seemed to be smarter then he had thought.

“‘Teazer, ‘es movin! See, ‘is breat-in changed ‘round. Think ‘es ‘wake?”

“Oh, we ‘ould try ‘n see! I wanna meet a new guy ‘round ‘ere!”

He heard the cats move closer to the corner he was curled in.

“‘Tink ‘es ‘ere ta stay, ‘jerrie?” Asked the more feminine voice.

The tom replied with, “O’, I dunno darlin’, Tugger don’t seem to ‘ant ‘im ‘ere.” 

A claw tapped his head. 

“‘Ey! ‘Ats goin on in there, Mister? You gone brain dead or some-tin’?”

“Oi, ‘teazer, think we ‘ould get Jenny? Maybe he actually is ‘urt. Tugger can be tough, ya know.”

“‘Ait, no, Imma try some-tin! ‘F I ‘urt ‘im, get prepared to ru, brotha’.”

Everything went quiet for a second. A few leaves rustled. Then, suddenly, Mistoffelees was hit  _ hard  _ by... something!

Mistoffelees leapt up with a yowl, flying to the other side of the cage. His back hit the metal hard, and he fell to the bottom, curling his paws around his head. The tom let out a whimper. His back hurt, his side hurt where he had gotten hit, and his head hurt from getting thrown across the cage and hitting the top.

Two laughs filled the air, and he took a look up to finally see who had been bothering him.

On the outside of the cage stood a tom-cat and a queen. Both were younger, with multi-colored fur. They were obviously well taken care of, as they both had collars and were of decent weight. Nothing like Bustopher Jones size, but certainly well fed. The queen held a long, heavy stick, which had obviously been used to wack his side through the cage.

Suddenly, with a blink of his eyes, both were gone from in front of him. 

He heard a giggle to his left, a look, to see the tom-cat.

A sudden glance to the right confirmed that the she-cat was calmly sitting over there. 

Both giggled, and suddenly they had switched sides.

“‘Ey, ‘stoffelees!” Called one. The other finished with, “You ain't the real deal, or ya’ woulda stopped us from ‘ittin ya!” 

“Do ya know ‘o we are?” They chorused as one, suddenly still.

Mistoffelees shivered, suddenly nervous and even more wary. He hated the idea of actually conversing with these strange cats, but it seemed like he wouldn't be left alone unless they provoked a response out of him. “O- Oh my, I’m afraid that I don't know you. Well, uh, sorry for not knowing your names, b-but uh- should- shouldn't you be off? I don't know, roaming around? C-causing- causing trouble elsewhere?” 

“Ah, we are incurably givin’ ta roam!” giggled the tom, seemingly happy about his response.

The she-cat slapped him across the head. “Stop flirtin’ around, ‘jerrie! We gotta keep a mystery up!”

“Oh, shut ya’ trap, ‘teazer! I don’ like toms like ‘at!” He cried in response.

Suddenly, both turned back to him. The two cats seemed to be so perfectly in-sync, it was mildly terrifying. Together, they asked him, “‘ave ya’ guessed our names ‘et?”

Quickly shaking his head, Mistoffelees turned so he could see them both face on, not liking the idea of having his back to the two troublemakers.

Both the cats smiled as he slunk backwards.

“Aw, ‘es done scare’ o’ us, ‘teazer!” Cooed the tom.

The other frowned. “‘e can’t ‘ave that, can ‘e now?”

She approached him first. “‘At ovah ‘ere is Mungojerrie!” 

Mungojerrie, who had previously been behind the other cat, was suddenly in front of her. It was almost like magic that they had swapped places, but if there was one thing that Mistoffelees was good at, it was feeling magic in the air. There was none, so he had no idea what was going on.

“‘At ovah ‘ere is Rumpleteazer!” He said proudly. 

They both appeared next to each other, and, once again speaking in unison, said, “We’re a notorious couple ‘a cats.”

At this, Mistoffelees gasped. “I- its you! You almost got Victoria in trouble!”

Rumpleteazer frowned. “‘at cute lil’ kit? Vicky? Aw, she ‘ould nevah do anythin’ bad! Ya let us ‘atch ‘er befo’, ‘member?”

“I would never let you near Victoria-”

Suddenly, both the cats held their paws up, to silence his meows. 

“Ya’ magic cant sense ‘at, can it?” Mungojerrie asked.

“What?”

“Shhh!”

Both of the cats darted off suddenly, not making a single sound.

As suddenly as they had vanished, two more appeared. These cats were completely identical in looks, so identical that Mistoffelees almost couldn't tell that one was a tom and the other a queen.

“You are ready to go see him?” Asked one.

“You are ready to meet the great leader?” The other continued.

“Who- Who are you?” Mistoffelees asked, confused. One set of twins had been replaced by another, and, honest to the Everlastic Cat, he couldn't tell if this was a prank or not.

“Tantomile,” said the tom, “Do you believe that he is prepared?”

“Coricopat,” said Tantomile, “I believe he is prepared.” 

“I- What- Is this some sort of joke?”

The twins froze, looking at him very hard. 

“Do not listen to whatever Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer told you. They simply like to cause mindless trouble. Real twins know exactly what needs to be done now.”

Mistoffelees had no clue which was which, and didn't know who had said that, so he just nodded along.

The two cats exchanged another glance, nodded, and suddenly the cage was unlocked. Flanked by the creepy twins, Mistoffelees was walked over to another section of the Junkyard.

In this area, the queens from this morning sat, along with a collection of other cats. Both the toms, the one who had brought him to this place and the one who had decided to lock him up, were perched on a ledge. The two cats from earlier, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, were in a corner. They weren't completely hidden, but they also weren't directly in the view of everyone. They nodded at him, but he didn't reply. Beneath the ledge that the two previously mentioned toms were sitting on, was a black and white cat. He had a patch of black fur on one eye, while the rest of his face was white. Another tom, who could have passed as a kitten but was obviously older, sat next to him. 

In their own little corner, an older, large, well-dressed cat stood proud. An extremely old cat sat near him, with an old queen talking to him in a quiet voice. A tom walked up to the heavier cat and offered him a seat, which he accepted.

Off in the distance, seemingly oblivious to what was going on, the kittens played. They chased each other and a few butterflies. Some of the cats would glance towards them now and again, obviously keeping an eye on them.

The tom from earlier, the one who had put him in the cage, stood.

“Jellicle Cats of the Junkyard,” He called. His voice was loud and smooth, not shouting, but somehow managing to project to everyone around him. Even the kits in the distance seemed to have quieted down. He reminded Mistoffelees of Munkustrap, from his junkyard, and if this place was anything like his own, then it probably was Munkustrap. 

“Jellicle Cats of the Junkyard,” Munkustrap repeated, “I am Munkustrap, protector, storyteller, and next in line of our clan.” He paused a moment, as if to let his words take effect. “We gather here on this unusual day to discuss a very intriguing problem.” He raised his paw in Mistoffelees direction. “It appears as though we have an imposter in our midst, and with help from all of you, we will find out what is happening.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think autocorrect has a seizure every time i write jerrie and teazers dialogue bcuz of how they talk.   
> Anyways ill probably be updating again on monday bcuz thats the last day of easter break so i wont have any work to do then!  
> I think ive said this bfore but 1998/musical jellicles are def more organized and would 100% hold a court whenever something goes wrong


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said i would update on monday but apparently thats a lie, monday was spent doing math and writing an essay, and then djring my aplang and apush classes on tuesday and wendsday, i wrote more to this story rip  
> Its not explicitly stated in this chapter, but i was inspired by a comment and i have officially decided that movie misto and movie tugger are exes. While movie misto has moved on and kinda hates tugg3r, movie tugger still likes misto and is therefore very happy when a misto who is still interested in him shows up.  
> Also i dont think that i need to up the rating for this but stage misto and movie tugger do make out its like nothing big just... making out.

The one thing that Mistoffelees had noticed about this strange junkyard and this strange Jellicle Clan was how disorganized they were. Sure, Munkustrap was still the same kind of leader he had always been. It seemed that no matter what, you couldn't get the clans Storyteller and Protector to change, even after this stange attack. 

In his junkyard, everyone had a place and role, and was scheduled to show up at certain times to practice for their parts. Even the kittens were given spots, as otherwise they would get bored. 

Here, cats randomly wandered in and out, and whoever wanted to practice next would go. Cats who were prominent figures in Mistoffelees’ junkyard were frowned and sneered at here; Mistoffelees hadn't even seen the sweet Old Gumbie Cat yet.

Everyone had seemed shocked when The Rum Tum Tugger sauntered in. Sure, the younger cats squealed, and the older cats shook their heads in despair, as they normally did for Tugger, but this didn't seem to be a joke. 

Normally, the kittens would come over and Tugger would do the kitten version of flirting with them, which wasn't actually as sexual as it could be. After the kittens had gotten bored, which was generally quickly because they are just kits, then the young adults would be around him. Generally, the young adults were mostly she-cats and to-be queens, or she-cats who hoped that Tugger would make them queens. While the adult cats laughed, Tugger would fool around with them before doing exactly as he was ordered to by Munkustrap, with his own Rum Tum Tugger twist(and thrust), of course. 

Here, the cats that weren't young and naive genuinely seemed upset that he was there.

Munkustrap, Tugger's own brother, was obviously angry. Mistoffelees could not hear him completely, only parts of the conversation, but his meows were loud and his actions reflected that voice.

Mistoffelees had long ago figured out that all the cats were completely different in this strange place, and had obviously gotten his hopes up when wishing for some normalicy in the form of his own mate. 

The good thing was that Mistoffelees could recoize who a majority of the cats were. He had a few heightened senses, like his smelling, plus he couldn’t exactly turn his magic off and it often helped him to recognize his friends, even if they didn't look how he was used to.

There were other things that were constantly working with his magic, things that kept it from overflowing or filling up too fast. He had learned how to do this when he was younger, after his emotions got in the way of one-to many magic tries. If he constantly used his magic to sense who was who, who was walking behind him, thinking they were sneaky, to teleport short distances, and to find that little mouse that's hiding during the winter, then it would all be kept at a safe level. 

When he had been younger, that magic was easier to turn completely off. Sometimes, he tried to block the use of it, out of shame, but eventually learned how to use the magic to mask itself. Strange alley cats have no idea about his magic, but all the Jellicles know of it.

The last thing he could do with his magic, was detect others magic.

Back home, he could normally tell when Tantomile and Coricopat were nearby. The twins didn't even know their magic was on most of the time, it had always been an unconscious twin thing for them. 

The magic of twins was different from the magic of a conjuring cat; while the twins could read each other's minds and move as one, Mistoffelees could tell when someone was happy or sad but never anything further then that, just as he could tell when someone was sneaking up on him but never who. The thing that the three had in common was sensing others magic. 

They knew when Macavity was attacking because of his magic, and they could tell when Old Deuteronomy was nearby because of his status as their clan leader, which gave him a slight bit of magic.

Mistoffelees could also sense when magic had been used for something, like when Old Deuteronomy had been whisked away by Macavity, and had been able to trace that.

On every other cat in the Junkyard, he hadn't been able to sense magic. However, on Rum Tum Tugger, there was a strong trace of magic.

He got up and began to move closer to the group down there, and there was no mistaking what he was sensing. The Rum Tum Tugger had traces of magic on him, and it was from very recently, which could only mean trouble. 

Tugger was currently standing there, leaning on the nearest piece of junk, as the other older cats argued around him.

A few kits were gathered around him, rubbing up and down his legs, grabbing his tail, and trying to groom his main, although none of them were quite tall enough for that.

As Mistoffelees came into view, Tugger turned towards him, and a few of the kittens cowered down, while others wrapped themselves around him protectively. No matter where he was, or what Macavity had done, it seemed that The Rum Tum Tugger would always be swooned over.

However, Tugger simply brushed the kittens off of him while the mature toms and queens continued talking, discussing whether Tugger should actually get a role.

“Ah, my love,” He wrapped his arm around the other cats shoulders, and a few tiny meows of protest came from behind him. “I have been searching for you.”

Mr. Mistoffelees shook his head. 

“Are you sure you're not looking for the other Mistoffelees?”

“Oh, sweetheart,” The taller cat leaned closer to his ear, and purred, “I know exactly who I am looking for.”

\---

Sure, The Rum Tum Tugger was a curious cat, but mysterious? Mischievous? Meddling around with magic that wasn't Mistoffelees’? That didn't seem right.

He stopped a little outside of the junkyard, and spread his arms out wide, smiling. 

“Well, my dear friend, are you enjoying your stay?”

Mistoffelees sighed. “Tugger, get to the point. I haven't a clue what's going on here, but you obviously do.”

Tugger smirked. “You will have to follow me, if you want to hear what is really happening.”

And so, the pair continued walking. After a few minutes had passed, Tugger started talking again, in a lower voice.

“I'm sure you have already figured out that Macavity has something to do with this.”

“Of course I am, I’m not stupid,” Mistoffelees shot back. His temper was, honestly, running out, and he really just wanted to get to the point.

“Calm down, sweetheart, don't need you to go off.”

This Tugger might not look or sound like the Tugger that Mr. Mistoffelees was used to, but he still seemed to have the same effect on him. So, Mistoffelees instinctively took a deep breath, blowing a small stream of sparkles out of his mouth. They flew through the air in a line, then suddenly dispersed, flying off into every direction.

“There he is. I'm amazed you aren't more mad at me,” Tugger purred.

The magic cat responded quietly, “I could never be mad at you.”

Tugger moved closer to the other tom, his arm returning to wrap around his shoulder. “Oh, babe. I knew it would happen eventually.”

First the taller tom kissed his cheek, then moved in front of him and latched onto his mouth. Mistoffelees slowly migrated his arms to Tuggers shoulders, hoisting himself up onto his tip-toes to get a better angle.

Before he knew it, The Rum Tum Tugger had grabbed him around the waist, only having to work a little to push the smaller cat up even higher. The latter wrapped his legs above the former's hips, leaning in closer as he felt his back getting pressed against something solid that must have been nearby, like a wall or tree.

Tugger thrust his hips upwards, and Mistoffelees could feel the other cats tail as it lashed through the air, creating a small breeze. His own tail was trapped behind him.

He pulled away for a minute to catch his breath, and Tugger once again leaned towards his ear, purring loudly.

Mistoffelees moaned as The Rum Tum Tugger bit into his neck, and pushed against him.

“Mm, babe, Quaxo, keep going...”

It really shouldn't have been much of a surprise to him, but hearing his first name being said really snapped Mistoffelees out of it.

With one try, and barely any magic, Mr. Mistoffelees had shoved The Rum Tum Tugger away from him, and ended up on his back on the ground. Without a pause, he leapt up.

“We are here for a reason, and that reason is not for sex, but because you know something that I do not.”

The other cat sighed, brushing his claws through his mane slowly. At last, he started walking again, a bit faster than before. He didn't look back as Mistoffelees ran a little to catch up.

They finally turned at the railway station.

“It's a safe space here,” was Tuggers’ only explanation, and then led him around a corner.

Over here, there was a she-cat, sitting against the wall of the train station. While Tugger had a slight bit of magic on him when they had first talked, this cat was, figuratively, covered in magic.

“The Rum Tum Tugger,” She purred, “That didn't take as long as you said it would. Yet you still managed to bring our little friend here!”

The she-cat stalked towards Mistoffelees, wiggling her body in an obviously sexual way before shoving her nose in his face “Aw, little Tugger got rejected, didn't he?”

Both the toms stayed silent, and the she-cat turned away. 

“Well, then! You brought me the little magician, now go get the last thing!” 

Tugger turned partially away, but looked back, unsure if he should actually leave. The she-cat waved him on, and he vanished, headed back the way they had come from. 

After a few seconds had passed she sighed and once again turned. “Now that the idiot is gone, we can talk.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Growled Mistoffelees, uncertain of whether he should trust this cat or not. She was obviously not a Jellicle, and she had magic on her, but did not seem to have any magical abilities. She had simply been...  _ associating _ with a magic cat, in certain ways.

That's what happens, when you're around someone who has magic. You can tell which graves belong to Old Deuteronomy's ninety-nine wives because there are still traces of magic on them, from when they were still alive. Back home, The Rum Tum Tugger was the easiest to find because Mr. Mistoffelees could recognize the traces of his own magic left on him. The psychic twins had never had mates themselves, but their closest friends were marked with the slightest traces of magic.

So, some other cat had obviously marked this she-cat with magic, as it smelled of tom, and then she had either rubbed it off on Tugger with activities or the other tom had been directly associated with the other magic cat.

Really, there was only one reasonable answer to this, which was that the two were associated with Macavity. The she-cat was obviously directly associated with him, while Tugger had yet to leave the Jellicles completely. Hopefully, he didn't plan to leave them at all. Macavity is a terrible tom, and someone that you should never associate with, if you can avoid it.

The she-cat sniffed. “Why, I am deeply offended! You do not recognize me at all?”

“I am certain you have figured out that things are quite different here then where I am from,” Mistoffelees replied with. “None of you smell or look the same, and it's not only the cats, but the layouts and the humans.”

“Ah, look at you, being observant! Now, take a guess at who I am?”

“I don't know. Get to your point.”

She sighed. “I'm disappointed in you! I thought you could do more with your magic then that! I would provoke you, but this station is untouchable. You can't fight here without getting in trouble.”

“ _ Get on with it!”  _ He repeated, this time with a little magic in his voice. It pushed the she-cat back a step, and left a look of surprise on her face. 

“Bombalurina.” She growled.

“Bomba?” Mistoffelees took in a breath. “But... You're not a bad cat where I am from.”

Bombalurina giggled. “I'm glad you have such faith in me, sweetheart! But, you know, a cat can't stay good for long when there's nothing there to please them. Macavity was a bit more entertaining than those boring old Jellicle Cats.”

Mistoffelees frowned. “So you know what happened?”

“Of course I do, sweetheart!” She grinned, not a nice grin, as in she was happy, but one that was not unlike a cheshire cat, resembling a mischievous smirk. “I'm his partner in crime!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed my username so sorry for any confusion lol  
> Anyways the jellicles 100 percent have a court except they are cats and do not know how couet works and i am a teenager who has never gotten arrested and doesnt like doing research so i dont know how court works either

“The Rum Tum Tugger. You will start by explaining your side of what happened.”

The proud cat from when Mistoffelees had first appeared in this place took a step, so that he was standing besides the gray one. He fluffed up his mane in a proud sort of way, not unlike The Rum Tum Tugger from his very own junkyard does. However, this cat obviously knew when something was serious, and wouldn't just dart off when his time had left. This cat had already shown that he wanted, and needed, to solve this mystery. It made the magic cat miss his home.

“I was walking home with Mr. Mistoffelees,” he started, “Our Mistoffelees, not that one over there, of course. Either way, we were walking back to our human home, and he stopped, said that something was off. I didnt feel anything, it must be a magic thing, but he kept insisting that something was wrong. It started raining, and I kept saying that we need to hurry home.” Tugger paused, whether it was for dramatic effect or to actually catch his breath, he couldn't tell. “There was thunder, then lightning, and everything went black, and Mistoffelees were gone, replaced. By  _ him. _ ” An accusing paw was pointed, straight at said cat, the ‘imposter’ Mistoffelees, as the other cat had previously called him.

The surrounding Jellicles had broken out into whispers, discussing their own opinions and what they thought was going on.

Munkustrap cleared his throat, and gently pushed down The Rum Tum Tuggers paw. “Thank you,Tugger, for that bit of drama there. Now, do you remember about what time you were walking back to your human house?”

Tugger frowned, thinking. “The sun was not yet set, but just about to. It was getting slightly cold, and the clouds were over the sky but not the sun, because it was too low for them to grab at.”

“Thank you.” He turned to the rest of the junkyard. “Now, does anyone else remember anything strange happening around that time?”

The fat cat who had been offered a seat raised a paw as high as it could go, which wasn't very high, as he seemed to have trouble moving with that much weight on him.

“Bustopher Jones, if you would like to rise and tell.”

He stood slowly, adjusting his coat around him. The well-dressed Bustopher Jones cleared his throat, and then began to speak.

“I was not outside at the time, but in a club, downtown, getting some rather delicious curry. I did not notice it start raining, but there was a loud bang from the outside, before all the lights in the club turned off. They did not turn back on for a decent amount of time, left everything in quite a bit of a mess.”

Munkustrap nodded, and Bustopher Jones plopped back down. A few other cats voiced that they had been in their human houses, and that the power had gone out.

The gray cat raised his paw, and the junkyard was once again silent, as if they had never been speaking in the first place. Even Mistoffelees couldn't help but stay focused on him. 

“Was there anything else that was noticed around the time that Tugger described Mr. Mistoffelees going missing?”

Silence remained, before a smaller, beautiful queen stood up.

“Demeter,” Munkustrap called, signaling her to start speaking.

The queen took a deep breath, then began speaking. “Around the time that the sun was setting, but not quite set, I remember the rain suddenly appearing. I remember thunder and lightning. I remember the rain stopping, just as suddenly as it began. However, I also remember. Right before the thunder and lightning, there was the rumble of a loud engine. Whenever there is that sound...” She stopped, and it seemed for a moment that she would continue talking, but she didn't. Everyone in the junkyard filled in what she was about to say; Macavity had been behind this.

No one spoke, or made a move, yet Munkustrap still raised his paw.

“There are a few more cats we must get information from before we confront Macavity.” He turned towards the corner that the two trouble cats were hiding in. “Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, would you please come out and tell us what you know?”

First the tom, Mungojerrie, slunk out. Mistoffelees almost expected him to be smirking as much as he had been before, or to at least cause some kind of chaos. Yet, there two cats seemed to understand the seriousness as much as the rest of the junkyard did, and Rumpleteazer soon followed, just as quietly.

The two exchanged glances, and Mungojerrie spoke first.

“Befo’ we start, ‘member that we always are loyal to the Jellicle Clan. ‘ome cats just like to ‘ave a lil’ fun, ya’know, for the extra bits and pieces in ta’ end.” He put his head down slightly, and the she-cat nodded, before speaking herself.

“Of’n we do small tasks for M’cavity, y’know? Lil’ things, like fetchin’ the meat, o’ stealin’ a pearl. ‘E always gives us somethin’ good in return. ‘S not like were ‘is right-’and-cats, o’ anythin’, but ‘e do get ‘round in ‘is area...”

Mungojerrie picked up where the she-cat had trailed off. “‘Es been talkin’ ‘bouta spell, y’know, Macavity's magic is all ‘at teleportin’. ‘N other fancy gimmicks, ‘ike his disguises. ‘N we didn't ‘eally think much o’ it because Macavity ‘s always plannin a new spell, ‘cept ‘is magic aint all that strong as ‘stoffelees magic is, so it dont work a lot.”

Rumpleteazer quickly shoved the other cat aside, and spoke quickly. “We don't talk about it, ‘e tries so many differen’ things that neve’ work, figured that ‘is one sounded so big, ‘e would neve’ get it goin’!”

“Rumpleteazer. Mungojerrie.” Munkustrap spoke calmly, but it was obvious that he was exasperated with how long their tale was taking.

They exchanged glances with each other, before continuing.

“It’s ‘eally weird, don’ ‘eally know ‘ow it works. ‘E kept on sayin’ things ‘bout ‘imself, but not ‘imself, an’ one o’ the othe’ guys said somethin’ about timelines, but we don’ know what that even means. Some Siamese, said it was like ‘imself but not ‘imself! ‘N ‘is magic was gonna switch ‘eir places, ‘n then there was gonna be a differen’ M’cavity ‘ere!”

Mungojerrie had finished in a confusing rush, and took a deep breath. Both the cats looked scared. Back where Mistoffelees was from, these two were directly connected to Macavity, working as his partner's partner. They weren't just troublemakers, as they seemed to be here, but actually evil.

“We don't ‘eally know much afta’ that. ‘E ‘asnt wanted us aroun’, the otha’s say ‘es mad, say ‘at ‘is magic didn't go ‘ight. M’cavity ain't as good at ‘is magic as ‘e thinks ‘e is, ‘e musta messed up, switched the wrong cats ‘round.

He had to wonder if the two from back home had a side like this, if they really were just innocent cats that like to goof around. Really, he doubted it, but you have to hope for some good in the world.

“Well,” started Munkustrap after a long pause, “It seems that we need some magic to help us out. Lucky for us, we have two cats with some magic around here.” The gray cat focused on Mistoffelees, and he backed up a bit, slightly scared, but the twins on either side of him stepped forward. 

“Three,” The two said as one. 

All the cats seemed to automatically know who the twins meant, and looked directly at the tuxedo cat.

“Well, is he strong?” Asked the gray cat.

“More magic than us,” Said Tantomile.

“Not very confident,” Said Coricopat.

Mistoffelees blinked, surprised. He could do magic, and last year he hadn't been that confident in his abilities, but he certainly had improved. Other than Macavity, he was the only known cat who could do magic. He was the only Jellicle cat that could do magic, that was for certain. These twins, who were just little kids who had no magic at all back at his home, were suddenly claiming that they could do magic, sense his magic, and were just pouring all this information out to the others?

“Jellicle Cats, I would just like to say that I do, infact, care for all of you, but this has happened at such a bad time. Rum Tum Tugger, Coricopat, Tantomile, Mungojerrie, and Rumpleteazer. I need you to take this Mistoffelees and figure out what is going on. Any information, any way to reverse what is happening, and any way to work magic, go for it.”

The five cats nodded. Mistoffelees shuddered.

He turned to the other members of the clan. “The rest of us, we need to continue practicing for the Jellicle Ball. Mr. Mistoffelees is a very important Jellicle cat, but that does not mean that we cannot hold the ball. We will get him back in time, and we will hold the ball under the Jellicle Moon. That is all.”

This seemed to be the clue that they were dismissed, as the members of the clan began to disperse. The cats that Munkustrap had called on had gotten up as well, slowly migrating towards where the Protector was sitting. 

Someone(or something) slammed into the back of Mistoffelees, and he yelped, turning quickly. The two troublesome calicos were giggling as they seemed to herd him along.

“C’mon, c’mon, ya’ can't keep up?” Crooned Mungojerrie, while Rumpleteazer cackled loudly. It was earsplitting, really, and their voices were quite annoying.

“Eep!” was his reply, and on accident, he sent out a slight electrical shock. It hit both the cats at the same time, and they momentarily froze, before jumping out of his way.

“Tugger, Tugger! Did ya’ see ‘at!!” Squealed Rumpleteazer as she ran up to The Rum Tum Tugger. The large cat nodded his head, swishing the fluffy main, back-and-forth. Then, he turned his head back forwards, towards where Tantomile and Coricopat had wandered ahead, seemingly not noticing the others left behind, fooling around, or perhaps just not caring enough. Either was reasonable, if Mistoffelees had that kind of confidence, he would also leave this wild group behind.

...Okay, so maybe he was a bit of a coward still. One performance and magically making a few cats appear can only do so much to you. 

By now, the little group had formed a circle-like shape just outside of the junkyard. Tugger sat down last, after taking one last, long glance at the others.

“Well, kittens, what is first on the agenda?”

“Oh! Oh! Pick me, I ‘ave ‘n idea!” Rumpleteazer shouted, jumping up and down while waving her paw. “I’s a great one!” 

“Well, lets hear it,” was Tugger's reply.

She dropped back down to her paws, but took another leap, until the trouble maker was right next to Mistoffelees. The calico wrapped her paw around his shoulders. 

“I wanna see ‘is guy do ‘ome magic!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also i absolutly adore mungo n rumple i just,,, rlly like them,,,


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> backstory, backstory, backstory...

_ Macavity had been planning this for a long time.  _

_ The spellbook had been traded at a shady club, one that Bustopher Jones would have never frequented. The cat who gave it to him claimed that it had been passed through her family, but she was born without the magic that it took to read it.  _

_ She explained that the book worked in a strange way; if you had the capability to perform the spell, then you would be able to read the page. If not, then you would not be able to comprehend the words. Only magic cats could read the book, it looked like any old human book to everyone else.  _

_ Later that night, the she-cat who had traded with him was found dead. No one knew who did it, but most suspected it was just from old age, or starvation. Macavity sat in his den, he knew the truth. The book had worked. _

_ For many months, he tried new spells that he was able to read, gaining many new followers as he took in more riches. Cats were attracted to the shiney jewels and tasty food, and he promised them some as long as they did simple tasks for him. Bring him a new cat and you get a can of wet food, bring him a cat from a certain clan and you get a spot in the ranks. Bring him a cat from a club, dead, and you get a promotion, bring him a cat from a club, alive, and you are free to come and go whenever you want. The cats of London want to be regarded as dangerous, and looked up to, either in fear or admiration, and it's easier to scare someone then to perform a good deed. _

_ Of course, no one knew about the book. It's common knowledge that Macavity knows magic, but everyone assumes that it comes naturally, and he can just make things happen. The only one who knows about the book is Bombalurina, his second-in-command.  _

_ The she-cat had been with him from the beginning, always at his side, never letting anything slip. _

_ One day, Macavity decided to save up his magic, and not use it for a week, just as an experiment. When he came back to the book the next week, he found a new page readable. This one told of a spell that can open another world, and claimed that there were multiple versions of himself. _

_ It said that if he performed this spell, he would be able to talk to himself from these other worlds, and possibly even travel there. However, if you travel to an alternate universe, then you must switch places with yourself, to keep the timeline from being messed around. If there is more than one of you, in the same place, than the Everlasting Cat will notice, and disrupt time. The Everlasting Cat can't tell if you're simply communicating with yourself, and if you switch places then it will act as though you have always been there, but no more than one of you in a universe at a time. _

_ So, Macavity reserved his magic for this big trick, and finally, after months of not using his powers, he sat himself in a room, with Bombalurina next to him and Bombalurinas assistants, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, guarding the door. _

_ The house they were in had been long ago abandoned, and cracks littered the walls; the only window in the room broken. It didn't really matter if the two twins guarded the door or not, for anyone smart enough would go through the window, but we don't talk about that. Little mistakes can be reflected on later. _

_ She held the book open while he waved his paws in the air and chanted. His eyes turned red, and wind fluttered, and then the portal opened up. Half the spell had been performed. _

_ In this alternate universe, he was a tall and skinny ginger cat, who had kidnapped Old Deuteronomy before and had many kits with unwilling queens. He had been sung about by many queens, as the fiend in feline shape, who has broken every human law but ever gotten caught. This other version of himself also revealed how there were strong magicians there, with the power to teleport other cats and throw sparks, which Macavity could do with the help of his book, but not from sheer willpower. _

_ Alternate Universe Macavity and the Normal Macavity spend many-a night planning in secret, even Bombalurina wasn't there sometimes. There were a few times where some stupid cats almost walked in on them, but other then that, they didnt think anyone would know. _

_ Finally, the book let him read the rest of the spell, and he quickly skimmed over it. He gathered his second in command, her little helpers, and no one else. He told the spell to the Macavity on the Other Side, so that he could also perform it; this would help to enhance it. _

_ The two directed their magic, and prepared to switch themselves with each other. _

_ There was one problem: That open window in the room? Well, sure, little mistakes can be reflected on later, but that book had said how, if there was any chance that someone with similar qualities was nearby at the time of the spell, and if there was a small chance that not all percentage of that magic was focused on who was supposed to switch, it might go awry, and hit the closest thing that it was looking for, for magic has no sight and must be directed by the caster.  _

_ On this night, the caster was not focusing completely, and forgot to completely direct the spell to the correct place, so that spell, knowing that it was to hit a magical cat, hit the nearest magical cat that it could find after escaping the window; Mr. Mistoffelees, The Original Conjuring Cat, not Macavity the Mystery Cat. _

_ And on the other side of this spell, in the alternate universe, the other Macavity obviously did something wrong as well, causing loud explosions and storms and power outages.  _

_ After that... Well, we know how the story goes from here. _

_ \-- _

When Mistoffelees woke up, there was no one there.

He knew that Bombalurina had been telling him what had happened while they were at the train station, which was apparently neutral territory, and the sun had started to rise. Humas had begun to wander the station, a few children had cooed tiredly at the cats sitting there. Tugger hasn't returned yet. Then... nothing.

It was already dark, the station void of humans, cats, and seemingly any other creature that would have been useful at the moment, like a mouse or small bird. Everyone needs to eat.

Mistoffelees got up and began to walk on shaky paws. He slowly peaked around the corner, expecting to see a cat or human, peke or pollicle, standing there, guarding him. Or maybe, some other animal, belonging to none of the clans, had tipped the alley cats off, and someone was waiting to attack.

No, that wasn't right, he couldn't sense anyone. Usually, if he was in danger, his magic would be in a frenzy, hair on end. Was the magic still too low for it to alert him of danger? No, he could feel the familiar buzz of it on the tip of his fur.

The Magical Cat did not want to return to the junkyard yet. Not only did he not want to confront Victoria again, but he had a mystery to solve. 

Using his nose and a little bit of magic, Mistoffelees began to follow a trail. The trail was invisible to everyone's eyes, but visible to most cats' noses, and perhaps a dog would be able to pick it out, but mostly cats. 

It took minutes to find the large den. It smelled of him, and you could see the junkyard if you stood at just the right angle outside of it, but you probably wouldn't know it was there if you weren't smelling. The den was well hidden.

Mr. Mistoffelees waltzed into The Rum Tum Tuggers den, ready to confront the large cat. The other tom had abandoned him earlier, and would now get to hear the best of it.

“Oh, Everlasting!” He cried.

The three cats in the middle of the den looked up, not at all ashamed.

Rum Tum Tugger smiled from the center, wrapping his arms around the cats on either side of him.

“Have you come to join us, sweetheart?” He purred. The cats on either side of him looked happy to have someone else join.

There was one tom and one queen. They had similar markings to each other, and wore fancy human jewelry. The tom leaned closer to Tugger and purred. The queen leaned towards Mistoffelees, taking a sniff.

“And who is this, Tugger?” Purred the one that was sniffing him.

Tugger smiled, pulling her back to him. “Why, the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees, of course.”

Both the cats at his side jumped up, and were suddenly on either side of him.

“Ah, quite different, but that was expected,” Said the tom.

“Didn't realize that he was going to wake so soon,” Said the queen.

Mistoffelees growled. “Who are you?”

The tom frowned. “Now, that is quite insulting,” he purred. “You don't know who he hooks up with anymore? Or is it different in your universe?”

“Where I am from, he has a permanent partner. Thats me.”

Both the cats giggled.

The queen leaned up against his side, rubbing her face against his. It was obviously supposed to be in a seductive way. The tom wrapped an arm around him, and rubbed his face against Mistoffelees torso. The Rum Tum Tugger didn't move, watching the three of them. 

“Ah, if only he had been able to actually keep you, here. We all know how unreliable The Rum Tum Tugger actually is, of course.”

The queen laughed at what the tom- her brother? Twin?- had said. “I mean, why else would you drop him for that girl? The white one, you know. She's quite beautiful. We would happily trade you, seeing as how you're probably going to be stuck here for a while.”

Mistoffelees frowned. “Victoria? I'm not with her, I’m not even interested in queens.” As he said this, he pushed both of them off. “Besides, I don't even know you.”

It was Tom's turn to laugh this time. “Of course you know us! Bombs and Macavity think that we never saw the magic in action, but were sneakier than they give us credit for.” He placed a hand over his chest and flopped back so he was lying slightly on top of the magic cat, eyes closed. “Oh, how much they underestimate us. Very hurtful. We saw you with us that version of us, of course- so you've just gotta use that brain of yours.” 

After that, Mistoffelees only had to think for a second to figure out who these two were. “Mungojerrie? Rumpleteazer?”

“Ding ding ding!” Crowed the troublesome queen. 

Forgotten in the background, Tugger suddenly stood and spoke up. “These two can most likely help you get away from here. Bombalurina only wanted to share what had happened.”

The magic cat frowned. “What is she going to do now?”

Mungojerrie shrugged from beside him. “She can't really do much. Macavity cares more about where she is than where we are, so she told us to help you. It should be fun.”

He growled. “If this is just some fun for you, then I don't want any help.”

Rumpleteazer simply laughed. “Sweetheart, everything we do is for fun. Living life like a game is the only way to do it!”

“Besides,” Mungojerrie interrupted, “It should be fun to get that book!”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! short chapter sorry :[   
> ill try to update again soon  
> theres like 4 more chapters after this one!!! wow :]  
> thanks for stickin w me thru this journey!  
> hey uhhh my tumblr is bees-in-a-davidbowie-shirt.tumblr.com if yall wanna like,,, take a peak uwu

Anyone who knows Mistoffelees understands that he is not a very confident cat. 

Sure, he had brought back the cats who had been kidnapped and impressed the girl with his magic, but do you know how long that took? A Lot longer than you would have thought. Besides that, the Jellicle Clan had not exactly paid much mind to him before he showed that feat of magic. Everyone had laughed at him for a long while.

His change to show off to Victoria had, honestly, given him some confidence. The only cat that he had successfully done that much magic for had been... well... yeah. His last partner. 

That didn't matter at this moment, of course. He had respect from his clan, but not this random one that he had magically appeared in. 

Now, onto the topic of using his magic. Rumpleteazer wanted him to do some magic, despite seeing that little flicker of it earlier. The cats back home know that he takes a bit to do some magic, it took multiple tries for him to bring back their leader. Mistoffelees have no clue how talented the Mistoffelees who usually reside here are at magic, if he had to save their leader, and many other things. 

Perhaps he was stressing out over it too much. Sometimes, he did that; thought over the use of his magic so much that it just slipped right out of his paws, leaving him unable to perform the task he needed.

But, what if the Mistoffelees here were more powerful, and when he used his magic, they were disappointed? 

“...’ude! You lis-nin?”

Mistoffelees jerked back to reality, and realized that he had been stuck inside his own head for quite a bit. Both sets of twins stared at him in concern, while The Rum Tum Tugger was sneering.

“What, finally going to tell us that you're not a real magic cat? Because you're not actually Mistoffelees?” He growled. 

The face reminded him of The Rum Tum Tugger from back home. He kind of missed him, and the times they had spent together, but remembering him also made him a bit... mad. Very mad, in fact. Even more angry now that he had to stare into the face of a cat named The Rum Tum Tugger who bore resemblance to the one that he had broken up with. 

No one really wants to see their ex making fun of them, right?

Without even thinking, there was a sudden blast, and Tugger was thrown backwards. A spectacular show of silver sparkles flew into the air, before slowly fading. The Rum Tum Tugger had hit a tree a few feet away.

Both sets of twins were still. While the troublesome ones were gaping at the sight, the mysterious ones both had their eyes closed. Now that he thought about it, they had both had their eyes closed for a bit, as if they had been expecting the explosion of anger.

As if on cue, they both opened their eyes and stared directly at him.

“Enough,” The cats chorused.

Everyone looked at the strange twins. Even Tugger, who was still a good bit away, stopped re-arranging his mane. 

One of them stepped forward. “You must save your magic. It will be necessary very soon.”

Mistoffelees frowned. “I- Well- No offense or anything, but how do you know?”

The other twin moved. Now both of them sat side-by-side again, just a lot closer to Mistoffelees. Neither of them blinked as they stared directly at him. It was haunting, really; he didn't know anyone who looked this identical. 

“It's a matter of how you think. Most of the time, the feeling simply comes to you. For us, it is natural, and we have no way of turning it on or off, and no way of controlling when it will happen.” 

Mistoffelees nodded. These..  _ Interesting _ cats seemed respectable and smart, and the others were listening to them. Earlier, when they were trying to figure out what had happened, Munkustrap had listened to them, too. They had known that he could do magic before he had said anything. Not that they knew how weak his powers were, of course- if they know that, then they would probably not want him there. Probably wouldn't give him a second thought.

Tugger seemed to have given up, though. He sighed, and stalked up to the creepy twins.

“Tantomile, Coricopat, we are not going to just sit here and wait for something to happen.”

“I have an idea!” Called Mungojerrie. Tugger, Coricopat, and Tantomile all turned to him and said, deadpan,

“No.”

Tantomile turned back to The Rum Tum Tugger. “We must go visit someone.”

“A special someone,” Added Coricopat.

The magic cat cocked his head, not quite understanding what was happening. Somehow, Thing 1 and Thing 2 caught on right away, and began jumping up and down, chanting, “Old D! Old D!”

Once again, Tugger sighed and turned to lead them down a path, waving the group to follow him. “Fine, but you can't tell anyone else where I’m taking you. This place is supposed to be a secret,” He turned to give Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer a look, “And I really don't know if I should trust you two.”

“Aw, C’mon Tug, yew know us!”

He sighed, “Hurry up, then.”

Still confused, Mistoffelees trailed behind. “Where are we even going?”

Bouncing back towards him, Rumpleteazer cried, “Wes ‘a goin’ to Old Dueteronomy!”

\---..--


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So a few things  
> Firstly, some good news! I am almost done writing this! I have been focusing alot on writing it bcuz of my bad news:  
> School is almost done here for me bcuz i take mostly ap classes and my ap tests are within thr next 2 weeks. I write on a school computer, my only oher devices are a 8 year old samsung tablet and my iphone, neither of which are very pleasant to write on.  
> So im trying my best to focus on finishing this, but im also working a bit on another fic, and trying to get as many chapters as possible written so i can post over the summer using my phone!   
> Anyways, hopefully i can do that. I will def. Have this fic finished in time tho!  
> Also this is 100% a filler chapter to get to know misto and tuggers relationship better lol sorry babes

Mistoffelees stared out the entrance of the den. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had run off to go and grab that book, and now here he was, stuck with The Rum Tum Tugger, but not  _ his _ Rum Tum Tugger.

It was awkward, to say the least. He knew next to nothing about this guy, yet here he was, sitting in his living space. The worst part was that he had been about to have sex with the twis before they had left.

The Rum Tum Tugger turned towards him and purred, “So, are you ready?”

“Shut the fuck up,” He replied with a growl. The magic cat then moved closer to the entrance and pooped himself down. Until those twins came back, he did not plan to move.

If he were being honest, he did not trust those two at all. He wouldn't be surprised if they came back with the wrong book, a joke book, or even Macavity. They probably thought this whole situation was one big prank. 

The Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer back home had treated everything like a prank. They had done it at the Jellicle Ball, pretending to be Macavity to scare everyone off, just so they could sing about themselves. They had done stupid things like that in other situations as well. He knew for a fact that they still fucked around with Macavity’s crew when they got bored.

But the ones back home were still basically kittens, younger than Mistoffelees was. There was time for them to learn. The ones here seemed older, more like young adults and not older teenagers. Hopefully they would know better than to make a joke out of such a situation.

He really wanted to use some of his magic to set up traps, sense if Macavity was coming. However, he knew he couldn't do that. The story that had been given to Mistoffelees seemed to say that a lot of magic was required for this story. Sure, he's a powerful cat, but everyone has some limits. It's better to be safe and sorry and not use up magic like he had been the past few days. If he passed out again, in a stranger's home, with cats he didn't trust, it would not be good.

There was a chuckle from across the room, and Mistoffelees whipped his head around to stare at The Rum Tum Tugger. This brown cat fluffed up his mane and smirked.

“Everythings going to be fine, sweetheart,” he purred. Mistoffelees just growled again. “I know how you think,” Tugger continued, “And you're probably panicking right now. All stuck up in that pretty little head of yours, somehow convincing yourself that everythings going to go wrong.”

With every word, The Rum Tum Tugger had somehow managed to slink closer and closer to The Magical Mr. Mistoffelees. The tom's face was not very close.

“Why the hell do you think that?” He snarled back.

Tugger blinked, and muttered, “Feisty, eh?” under his breath. Then, he went back to the same smirk as before and continued his act. “Ah, best friends always know what the other is thinking, even if they aren't best friends anymore. Look, I can promise you that those two troublemakers will be back before the nights over, and by tomorrow, you will make your pretty little sparkles fly into the air and poof, you're out of here. Never have to look at me again.”

He rolled his eyes. “You're not very different from the Tugger I know. Just different colorings, maybe.” Mistoffelees tilted his head. “I think your eyes are different, as well. Not the way I’m used to them.”

This made Tugger laugh. He seemed pleased with himself for bringing the others' spirits up. So, the flirtatious cat wrapped an arm around the others shoulder, and pulled the other tom further into his den. 

Mistoffelees looked around, really looked around instead of just glancing, and sighed. “It's so different here. It's hard to believe that this is normal for everyone here.”

The other tom just smiled. “And there's another Mistoffelees out in your world who is thinking the same thing. Everything is different for everyone.”

“Are you ready to get your Mistoffelees back?” Asked the cat without hesitation. Tugger simply laughed.

“He's not really my Mistoffelees anymore. I’m sure you've figured out that he belongs to Victoria now.”

“Yeah. Thats so strange, because where I’m from, Victoria is just my little sister. I’m very protective of her, but she's becoming an official Queen this year, and is probably going to mate with Plato. They kind of had a coming-of-age dance last year. Now it's going to be the official mating dance.”

Tugger's mouth had moved closer to his ear as he talked about his life. Now, he purred directly into his ear, “Oh? And what are you going to do once you get back home?”

This just elicited a laugh from the tom. “Probability practice for the mating dance! We somehow convinced Munkustrap to let us open it this year. Were finally going to be official.”

“Oh? And who are you dancing with?”

“Mmh...” The Rum Tum Tugger had been moving more to wrap himself around Mistoffelees as they talked. Suddenly, he came to the realization of what was happening, and his eyes snapped open. It took less than a second to shove Tugger off of him.

“You literally just heard that I am going to be officially mated to another cat, yet you still tried that on me? You're disgusting,” He growled. 

“You didn't say no!” The brown tom protested. 

“I didn't exactly say yes, either,” the tuxedo growled back.

This just made Tugger sigh. “So, are you going to tell me who you're mating with?”

“ _ Someone with a way better personality than yours.” _

“But what's his name! Is he in this universe as well?”

Frustrated, Mistoffelees whipped around. “Yeah. His name is The Rum Tum Tugger, but unlike you, he's not a little bitch.”

He made his way back over to the entrance. The sun could be seen on the horizon. Neither of the cats spoke as they sat on opposite sides.

Slowly, the magic cat looked back over at this Rum Tum Tugger, who he did not like one bit. The Rum Tum Tugger opened his mouth, as if to say something. 

If the glare from Mr. Mistoffelees hadn't made him shut up, then the shout from outside the den sure had. 

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had returned, a large book carried between them.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i just finished my apush testing :D  
> anyways i havnt gotten to replying to comments bcuz ive been studying all week and my state is stoopid so despite corona i might have my job back and open soon  
> anyways uhhh here u go  
> stop in on my tumblr and say hi? O.O  
> bees-in-a-davidbowie-shirt

Old Deuteronomy lived with an older couple. The two ladies were not yet old enough to need to go to a nursing home, but neither of them drove anymore and they both mostly just went out to mow the lawn, check the mail, garden, and feed the birds, so they didn't really notice or care when other cats came to visit.

Of course, the only ones who knew this were Munkustrap, The Rum Tum Tugger, Alonzo, and Mr. Mistoffelees. Munkustrap and Tugger knew because they had grown up in this exact house, and of course they would know where their own father lived. Alonzo knew because, after Munkustrap, he was in charge. He had to know where to find their leader in case Munkustrap was ever out of commision, and so he knew where he lived. Mistoffelees knew because, a few months after Tugger had asked him to be his mate, he had talked the magic cat over to his father's house. There, he had asked if it was okay for them to open the mating dance, and he had agreed.

So, Tugger led the small entourage towards his father's house.

Everyone knows that the Jellicle Leader has a little bit of magic. I mean, how else does one cat bring another up to the heaviside layer? Pure willpower? No, Old Deuteronomy had been passed the powers when the leader before him died, and when he passed, the powers would go to Munkustrap.

They weren't much, to be honest. He didn't exactly control them, not like Mistoffelees, Tantomile, Coricopat, or, dare say, Macavity did.

Mistoffelees could teleport and shoot lightning and make sparkles and control the moonlight. Tantomile and Coricopat could read each other's minds, see a bit into the future, tell the feelings of some close to them, and sense when others were coming. Macavity's powers were like Mistoffelees, more controlled, with his teleportation, electricity, and the ability to turn off gravity on himself. 

Unlike all those powers, Old Deuteronomy was limited in his use of magic. He couldn't really control how they were used, or learn new tricks. If Mistoffelees practiced enough, then he could make his magic more powerful, but Old Deuteronomy was only as powerful as the Everlasting Cat wanted him to be, the same with any Jellicle Leader.

His father could send out signals with his mind, push thoughts and feelings into others heads, bring cats to the Heaviside Layer, and push his energy into others. That was why they were going to visit him.

It was obvious that two psychics and a cat who had never been here before and seemed to have limited control over his magic would not be able to do something as amazing as, say, teleport another cat back to where he belonged. Hopefully, with a small energy surge from their Great and Powerful Leader, then they would be able to pull off this trick.

The house was not far from the junkyard. There was no fence surrounding it, for the old ladies did not care who entered their yard and welcomed children who liked to play on their lawn. They also loved it when the cats that knew where Old Deuteronomy lived came to visit.

It's a small, one story house, with a large patio. The windows were open all summer round, as the couple found no need to waste air conditioning.

Their front door had a cat door at the bottom, and The Rum Tum Tugger led the group up to it. His father could care less who came in for a visit, and would tell the whole city where he lived if possible, but Munkustrap had always made it clear that his father's safety was important, and had kept it a secret. He waved the others in through the door one by one.

The cat who claimed to be Mistoffelees was the one to enter before Tugger, and he was sure to give him a proper glare.

Just as expected, his father sat in a large bed underneath the table. The people were nowhere in sight, but that really didn't matter at the moment. 

Old Dueteronomy opened his eyes and smiled at the group.

“I was expecting you!” He rumbled in that deep, calming voice. The Jellicle Leader spread his arms wide, and Tugger went right in for the hug. Seconds later, he felt Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie crowding behind him, also wanting affection from their beloved leader.

Coricopat and Tantomile stayed back. They had never been ones for affection, but you could see smiles forming on their faces. It was strange, seeing the mysterious psychic twins looking like real cats.

The Mistoffelees imposter looked scared and confused. Sure, he had been looking like that basically the whole time, but surely there was a Jellicle Leader wherever he was from. Wouldn't he be happy to see a Jellicle Leader?

Tugger's father moved the three aside, and Coricopat and Tantomile parted. He tottered up to where Mistoffelees Imposter was, towering over him, but somehow still smiling.

“You're not supposed to be here, hm?”

The imposter seemed to gulp, then nodded.

“Well, you're in luck. Everything will certainly return to normal in a bit.”

“But... How do I get back? I don't think.. Well.” He looked uncertain, as if unsure if he could tell the old cat about his magic. So Tugger helped him a bit, finishing off the sentence for him.

“His magic isn't powerful enough to bring him back, or so he thinks.”

The older cat turned toward Tugger and gave him a glare. “Son, I appreciate the effort, and I know you are worried about your mate, but please, I need you to not interfere.”

He let out a whine, but still stepped back.

Old Dueteronomy gestured up with a smile. “Now, I think this might help you.”

There, up against the wall, what looked to be a small hole was forming. However, it kept growing, getting bigger and bigger.

Eventually, it didn't look like just a hole, and you could see another cat slowly appearing on the other side. The spot grew even larger, and you could almost see an entire room, most likely some cats den.

Tugger's eyes went wide as he recognized who was over there.

“Misto!” He called in excitement, running up to the spot. It grew a bit more, before finally deciding to stop, leaving a full view of Mistoffelees, as well as three other cats.

The Mistoffelees on the other side of the hole smiled at Tugger. That there? That is the  _ real _ Mistoffelees, the one who  _ matters. _ However, instead of paying attention to Tugger (As he should have), he turned to the other Magic Cat.

“Mr. Mistoffelees, correct?”

Said cat nodded.

“Good. To put it simply, Macavity was trying to cause trouble, but did it wrong. I haven't exactly been able to study this book,” At this, he held up a large, thick book. The words on the page looked like scribbles to every cat except for both the Mistoffelees, “But I am mildly certain that I know how to turn this back.”

The Mistoffelees on Tugger's side of the portal looked even more terrified then he usually did. His eyes seemed to be twice the size of his head, either taking in what was going on or going into shock. The latter seemed more possible, but somehow, he managed to nod anyways.

“I’m going to try a little trick here. This book taught me how to duplicate the page for the spell that will switch us, and I have already done that. I am going to send you that page so that we can both do our best attempts to switch ourselves back. Do you understand?”

Once again, the Mistoffelees on Tuggers side of the portal nodded, followed by a large flash and a bit of glitter.

A single sheet of paper floated down to the ground.


	12. Chapter 12

The thing about Mistoffelees is that he is a little bit of a perfectionist. Or maybe he just wants something to go right in his life for once? Maybe he's picking up all that stress that Munkustrap carts around every day.

Either way, Mistoffelees hates it when things get messed up, or no one listens to him, or the kits cause trouble, or Macavity appears; the list could go on. 

During the tuxes first Ball as an official adult Tom, it had not gone how he had wanted it to. First, he hadn't gotten a song right away. Then, the kittens had continued causing trouble during Jennys song. Afterwards, Rum Tum Tugger had just  _ had  _ to arrive late and interrupt, and sure Mistoffelees loved him, but really? Just when he thought everything was going to go perfect?

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had messed up the Pekes and Pollicles, Tugger had fucked up with the bagpipes that Skimbleshanks had taught him to play, and at that point Mistoffelees had almost been ready to blast the tom away with magic.

Getting away from all the minor interruptions, there was Macavity! He had completely ruined Mistoffelees first ball as an adult, and it hadn't been fun.

He guessed, really, that he had gotten his hopes up. This was supposed to be the ball that he opened the dance with his soon-to-be-mate, and maybe this was a bit self centered, but it seems that whenever Mistoffelees is supposed to get nice things, then they don't happen.

So here he is, stuck in some alternate universe, relying on some stranger who claims to have the same magic as him.

Speaking of that guy, he had turned off the ‘hole’, ‘portal’, whatever you want to call it, a while ago. The sun was now nearing the peak of the sky, shooting down through the dens entrance.

Honestly, Mistoffelees could leave the den. Get away from what was probabily sex happening behind him and hunt for breakfast, run around to wake himself up. A while ago, back in his own junkyard, Mistoffelees human had left out a mug of some kind of drink. It was still a little warm when she had left, and he had taken a few licks of it. Despite tasting bitter, it had woken him up almost immediately, and he would die just for a lick of it right now.

But the magic cat was too scared to leave the den. What if the portal to communicate with the other Mr. Mistoffelees only shows up in this one place?

How was he even supposed to trust the other magic cat? How did he even know that this cat is magic? What if the whole tribe was just playing some big prank on him?

What if he never got back at all? The other cat never did the magic, and he's stuck in this strange junkyard. He never gets to dance at the ball with Tugger, possibly never gets to see Tugger again. Or, you know, any of the other members of the tribe, from Old Deuteronomy to his young sister Victoria.

So, yes. Mistoffelees were worried. He was stressed. He was concerned. He wanted this to go perfect but he knew it wouldn't. He thought that Tugger might drop him during the ball. He was watching as a small black hole in the wall started to form and slowly grew by the second- _ oh. Finally! _

Seconds before the ‘black hole’ completely opened up, Mistoffelees made sure to move just slightly. He didn't want anyone he knew to see some strangers behind him doing... that.

The quiet, nervous cat on the other side of the hole was finally in full view. When they had talked before, he had not even said a word.

Now, he looked even more scared. You could almost see him shaking, and he was holding his hat in his paws.

Before Mistoffelees could even say anything, the other Mistoffelees spoke up.

“Oh, I’m really not sure I can do this. I’m really sorry, but it took so much time for me to figure out how to make this part of the magic work!”

A voice from somewhere behind the stranger rang out, and Mr. Mistoffelees recognized the annoying cockney accent. 

“It's true!” Rumpleteazer squeaked. “‘E spent most o’ his time sittin’ ‘ere an’ mutterin’ to ‘imself!”

There was more muttering in the background. Mistoffelees couldnt see who was talking, as the position Mistoffelees 2.0 was in blocked most of the background, but he heard a bit of commotion. By commotion, he meant a small crash followed by some yelling.

Mistoffelees just sighed. 

“Listen, I thought the same thing when I first had to use my magic. I've never done this trick either, but I’ve also never teleported the Jellicle Leader out of the hidden paws of Macavity.”

Two-point-oh looked confused for a minute, before nodding slightly to himself.

“Ah, it took a lot of tries for me to do that magic. I think the difference is... I know my leader. Plus I had encouragement from, you know, my mate. The cats I consider friends. I don't know you at all. I can barely remember the names of the cats around me!” The magic cat took a deep breath. “I don't think this is going to work. It might be better for you to just... stay there, and for me to stay here.”

It took all of Mistoffelees' willpower to not scream at this cat. Honestly, it was so frustrating to see, but that was mostly because, if he was being honest, this was exactly how he had felt last Jellicle Ball.

All that had been going through his mind had been,  _ what if I can't do it? What if he doesn't reappear when I take the blanket off? What if everyone hates me? Would it be better if I just don't come down when Tugger sings for me? _ Somehow, he had avoided saying all those things out loud, mostly due to his pride. Sure, everyone thought that Tugger was the one with the ego, but Mistoffelees was nearly the same way.

At this point in time, Mistoffelees wasn't really thinking about his pride. Right now, he wanted to get home. He wanted to be in the loving arms of his tribe, practicing for the Jellicle Ball, which was only a day away. But most of all, he pitied this cat. Well, not really pitied, just wanted to help him.

This other cat reminded him of himself, and maybe that's because he was him. They were both magic, they had both performed the same ‘trick’, they were both Jellicles, but it was obvious that this other cat didnt have as much support as he did.

“Mr. Mistoffelees, if you can bring the Jellicle leader back, then I am sure you can bring yourself back,” He started off with.

“I was scared when I had to do it as well. I thought that I was just going to be putting on a simple magic show, not saving the entire Jellicle Ball!”

Mistoffelees 2.0 laughed nervously. “Ah, I didn't think I was going to have a performance at all. I didn't really interact much with the other Jellicles at that time.”

This elicited a shrug from the other cat. “Well, I’m sure you must talk to most of them now. And look right behind you, you’ve got The Rum Tum Tugger, Rumpleteazer, and Mungojerrie!”

Unfortunately, his consoling words didn't seem to be working. “Ah, well. I don't really speak to  _ those _ cats. Besides, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer aren't even part of the tribe. They're the enemy!”

The tux just frowned at this. The twins here had retrieved that book for him, and seemed pretty neutral on sides. Perhaps they were more hostile towards cats who actually belonged here?

This was harder than Mistoffelees had originally planned. He had been going by what he knew, and assuming and hoping that things were similar for both of the Mistoffelees. Certainly, their leaders were the same!

“Well, who else is around you?” he questioned.

The other Mistoffelees fiddled with a hat in his paws. “There's these quiet twins, they won't stop staring at me. And, well, Old Deuteronomy is here. It's strange, though, because where I am, or was, you know, our Jellicle Leader is still named Old Deuteronomy, but... she's a Queen.”

Despite being a little confused, Mistoffelees automatically perked up at the othe magic cats answers.

“Ah, Coricopat and Tantomile! And you have Old Deuteronomy there! They all have magic, you know? Maybe teamwork can help?”

Before he could encourage anything more, Coricopat had frantically pushed Mistoffelees 2.0 out of the way. The hole faded a bit before going back to its full size.

“If any of us other than him says any of those words, then whoosh, we are off to who-knows-where. This is a two-man job, and unless you want to perform another miracle to save the Jellicle Leader, then I would not suggest that.”

For what felt like the thousandth time, Mistoffelees sighed.

“Can you not all give him a bit of help here?”

Coricopat shook his head. “None of us can read the paper, the fact that he can read the whole thing means that his magic is powerful enough for it to happen!”

From off-portal, Mistoffelees heard a faint voice say,  _ “It is?” _

Back into view came the other Mistoffelees. 

“Is... is that how it works? You can only see it if your magic is strong enough?”

Mistoffelees nodded enthusiastically, glad that the other cat was finally getting it. 

“That's how the story was told to me, so I’m assuming it applies to both of us.”

The other cat's face fell a bit. 

“...You're just assuming that's how it works? What if it doesn't?”

Quickly, Mistoffelees replied with, “I've changed my mind, I  _ know _ that it will work. And you know what, were going to try it!”

The panicked look returned to two-point-ohs face. 

“Wait, right  _ now? _ But, I’m not prepared! What if it doesn't work!”

But the cat didn't even respond to the other ridiculous question.

“On the count of three, we both start at the same time, okay? One... Two... Three...”

At relatively the same time, they both started chanting. Unfortunately, Mistoffeleees could feel that it wasn't working. There was no tug at his magic, and no glitter fell down around him.

The cat on the other end sighed, recognizing that the magic hasn't worked.

“You see? It doesn't work, I knew I couldn't do it!” He voiced.

“No, we are going to do this again. When I was trying to bring Old Deuteronomy back, I messed up a bit. My magic didn't work every single time I called on it.”

The Mistoffelees on the other side nodded slowly, agreeing to his statement. 

“It went the same for me, I guess...”

“Great. Then we start again, the same way.”

So, on the count of three, both cats began chanting again. This time, a few bits of Mistoffelees glitter fell around him, as usually happened when there was magic.

Unfortunately, that was about all that did happen. 

Once again, the other cat sighed. However, before he could even complain or degrade himself, a cat spoke from behind Mistoffelees.

“Third times the charm, boys,” purred The Rum Tum Tugger from this place. It brought yet another sigh and an eyeroll out of Mistoffelees, but he still repeated the tom's words.

“Third times the charm. I’m going to count it off once more. One.... Two... Three”

Again, at relatively the same time, both the cats started chanting. This time, more glitter gathered in Mistoffelees paws and on the floor around him. That would be a pain to remove, but it wasn't his problem, because he could feel the tug of magic in his body. Soon, Mistoffelees wouldn't be here anymore, and the glitter in the den would be long forgotten!

Slowly, the magic hole in the wall grew larger, until it completely surrounded Mistoffelees. Every other cat seemed to vanish from his view, and he felt as though he were left floating in the air.

Still, he continued chanting, and suddenly, he heard another voice, doing the same thing.

Mistoffelees didn't stop the words, but he did give the other Mistoffelees a good, solid nod as they passed each other. For a good second, their movement seemed to freeze, and for a second, the magic cat got scared, before both the cats started moving again.

This time, everything seemed to zoom right on by. There were small flashes of glitter in some places, but he was sure not to become distracted, and at some point closed his eyes.

The air rushed in his ears, until finally, there was a small  _ pop! _

Everything was quiet, and slowly, scared, Mistoffelees opened his eyes, just a crack at first, before all the way.

Here he was, sitting in a human house, in a pile of glitter; and surrounding him were cats that he  _ knew,  _ cats whose scents he recognized!

Mistoffelees knew this Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, he knew who Tantomile and Coricopat were, and he was practically sitting in Old Deuteronomy’s bed. 

And, last but not least, was The Rum Tum Tugger, who looked like he just might cry, ego be damned.

The large manned tom rushed at him, tackling the magic cat and sending a puff of glitter up into the air. Old Deuteronomy laughed in his deep meow as he watched his son and his son's mate ‘reunite’. 

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer cheered, splashing a bit of some glitter up into the air, and even Tantomile and Coricopat, who were always so serious, smiled.

“We better get you back to the Junkyard,” said one.

“Munkustrap might just have a heart attack when he sees you alive,” Finished the other.

However, before any of them could move, a lock clicked, and the front door opened.

The small pile of Jellicle Cats was almost stomped on as two older ladies entered the house. One of them automatically spotted the cats and let out a gasp, making them all hold their breath.

“Oh, Helen! You left out the glitter again! That's going to be stuck in his bed forever!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh! this could technically be it and I could end the story right now but i plan to write one more chapter with just happy little bits from the ball :D  
> HOWEVER(i rlly like that word aparently i used it too much today) i have work at 8 for the first time in nearly a month and its currently 1 in the morning so i will post it some other time  
> follow my tumblr, bees-in-a-davidbowie-shirt for art and to see the possibility of any other aus i write :0  
> thank u love u all for stickin w me thru this <3


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